How much did Lexington 2 school board spend on travel last year? Here’s the data
Last year, the Lexington 2 school board spent a little more than $7,300 on travel to conferences.
Six members of the seven-person board traveled to in-state conferences in 2025, according to documents provided through a public records request. One member of the school board, Tre Bray, did not travel to conferences in 2025.
“The [South Carolina School Board Association] things are the same thing over and over and over. It’s kind of fiscally irresponsible to go more than once every other year, in my opinion,” Bray told The State.
The district spent $492,000 in total for travel between July 2024 and June 2025 and has budgeted $605,000 for the 2025-26 fiscal year, according to district spokesperson Dawn Kujawa. That number includes travel for teachers, principals and school district staff. It also includes money for daily, in-district travel on things like gas.
Here are the numbers for the school board:
Five members of the school board — Craig Aull, Kevin Key, Elizabeth Castles, Linda Alford-Wooten and Mary Burkett — attended the 3-day South Carolina School Boards Association conference in February 2025. The trip cost just shy of $6,500.
- Registration for the five members was $2,180 in total. The base registration for each member was $325 and some members spent $185 on an additional board chair workshop.
- Lodging for the 3-day conference was $2,885.12 in total. Each member’s accommodations cost around $618, or around $206 a night. Board member Mary Burkett left the trip early, according to the district spokesperson, so her accommodations cost only $412.16
- Board members requested reimbursements for meals and mileage for the conference. The total reimbursement was $1,149.70 for the five members.
Chairman of the board, Kevin Key, spent $300 on registration for a 2-day School Law Conference in August. Key arranged his own accommodations. He spent $198 on travel and meals, according to the documents.
The conferences “provide important information for our new and veteran board members,” Key wrote in an email to The State.
“It’s also an opportunity for us to meet with other boards so that we can work together with legislators about public education issues. These work sessions provide guidance that board members use to help ensure that we are making informed decisions that are in the best interest of the employees, students, and families we serve,” Key wrote.
Other school board members did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
An agenda for the conference showed that topics discussed included understanding a board members’ role in employment investigations, a know-how on state ethics and the implications of artificial intelligence in education.
Three board members – Key, Burkett and Christina Rucker – attended a December legislative advocacy conference. Registration for the conference was $275 per person for a total of $875. According to Kujawa, the school district didn’t pay for any accommodations for that conference.
Key arranged his own lodging, Burkett did not stay at a hotel for the 2-day conference and Rucker paid for her own lodging and did not request reimbursement, Kujawa said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include that the total amount of money spent on travel includes in-district travel.
This story was originally published March 4, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
